FAMU band director Julian White retires unexpectedly

Florida A&M University band director Julian White, who has been under intense criticism since the hazing death of drum major Robert Champion in Orlando last fall, retired unexpectedly Thursday amid more troubling revelations about the embattled Marching 100 band.

White's attorney, Chuck Hobbs, announced the decision late Thursday afternoon. White, 71, chairman of the university's music department and director of bands since 1998, had been fighting for months to keep his job.

Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Scott and the chancellor of the State University System said Thursday that FAMU's famous band, which is under indefinite suspension, is not ready to take the field again.

White's retirement comes days after FAMU revealed that at least two band members charged in Champion's death — and possibly a third — should not have been in the band, and that nearly 100 others may not have been eligible to join the band.

Percussionists Caleb Jackson and Brian Jones, both charged with felony hazing in Champion's beating Nov. 19, were allowed to travel with the band and be on a parked charter bus where the attack took place.

Alisia Adamson, an attorney for Jones, acknowledged Thursday that Jones was not eligible. But he had been authorized to be in the band, stay with the band at a hotel in Orlando and perform at the FloridaClassic, she told the Orlando Sentinel.

"I don't know if they bend the rules for some students or it's a rule they don't enforce," Adamson said. "The band director knew he was there. He was participating in the Classic because he was allowed to."

The university confirmed Thursday that of the 100-plus band members whose eligibility is in question, about 60 traveled to the Classic and received per-diem payments for the trip.

Those developments led to further criticism that White and other university officials were not in control of the band.

White's retirement also comes two weeks after the forced resignation of two FAMU music professors present at a party in 2010 where the hazing of band members occurred.

Reached by telephone Thursday, White said his retirement would take effect "as soon as possible."

He said recent developments affected his decision to retire.

"I wouldn't say it was forced," he told the Sentinel. "It had something to do with it."

White also mentioned his leaving had more to do with his family, which includes an 8-year-old son and a 2-year-old granddaughter. He has been on paid administrative leave since shortly after Champion's death.

On Thursday evening, FAMU announced that trustees will meet with university President James Ammons via teleconference Monday to discuss the status of the band.

"The board needs — as well as everybody else — information regarding the band," Chairman Solomon Badger said. "We want to hear from the horse's mouth … and then we will have an intelligent discussion."

Ammons said earlier this week that he's talking to faculty, students and others about whether to reinstate the band.

Also on Thursday, University System Chancellor Frank Brogan sent Ammons a letter urging FAMU not to lift the band's suspension yet.

Brogan warned that bringing the band back too soon — before the school's new committee of anti-hazing experts completes its work, for example, and before the Florida Department of Law Enforcement finishes an investigation into financial irregularities related to band operations — could affect its survival.

"Reconciling these and other issues under investigation will ensure that the institution's operational priorities and controls are in place," Brogan wrote, adding that although he and the state's Board of Governors remain committed to FAMU, "our concerns continue to mount regarding the ever-increasing body of issues that harm the institution, its students and, therefore, our State University System as a whole."

Scott said through a spokesman that he thinks the band should not be reinstated until there is assurance that a tragedy such as Champion's death will not happen again.

"The governor does not feel we are at a point where we're comfortable something like this wouldn't happen again," said spokesman Lane Wright. "Until we get to that point, we don't feel like the suspension should be lifted."

Last week, 11 people were charged with felony hazing in Champion's death after a nearly six-month investigation. Two others were charged with misdemeanors in connection with the hazing of two other band members on the same bus that evening.

On Tuesday, Ammons revealed to trustees that many who were allowed to travel with the band that weekend were not FAMU students.

He said 457 people were listed on a roster of band "travelers" at the beginning of the fall 2011 semester. Among those were 331 FAMU students and 25 employees.

Members of the Marching 100 don't have to be FAMU students. Musicians can join the band if they attend Florida State University or Tallahassee Community College and also enroll in a band course at FAMU.